From Travellers Accounts to Travel Books and Guide Books: the Formation of Greek Tourism Market in the 19Th Century

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From Travellers Accounts to Travel Books and Guide Books: The Formation of Greek Tourism Market in the 19th Century

Dritsas, Margarita

Hellenic Open University

10 August 2005

Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/25401/ MPRA Paper No. 25401, posted 24 Sep 2010 15:04 UTC TOURISMOS: AN INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF TOURISM Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 29-54

FROM TRAVELLERS ACCOUNTS TO TRAVEL BOOKS AND GUIDE BOOKS: THE FORMATION OF A GREEK TOURISM MARKET IN THE 19th CENTURY

Margarita Dritsas1 Hellenic Open University

The paper traces the emergence of the tourism market by using instead of statistics or quantitative data, which are very rare for the period, alternative sources. It traces the transition from travel writers to travel guide-books by focusing on the rich literature about Greek travel. It points to the process of commodification of poetry and literature of the 1800’s as information sources and tools of creating the tourist ‘gaze’, on the one hand, and to the appearance of the main patterns of the mass tourist market, on the other. By referring to and analysing the most widely used travel books of the period (the John Murray and Baedecker Handbooks for Travel) it contrasts them with earlier forms of travel writing. It points to the process of appropriation of the latter by the new genre; the passage from a more personal, romantic, literary and direct style of individual travellers during the early 19th century to a detached, authoritative and descriptive style at the end of the period. Hypotheses are formulated about how new institutions and businesses contributed to creating and propagating the special tourist gaze about Greece, as well as about the main patterns of mass travel which characterized visits to Greece during the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century. By comparing handbooks the paper also draws hypotheses about the diversification of the market.

Keywords: travel writers, guide-books, the tourist gaze, 19th century Greece

INTRODUCTION

Travellers’ accounts of modern Greece have traditionally interested Greek philologists and historians in as much as they could be used as proof of the intellectual rediscovery of Greece (geographically, culturally and nationally) by the rest of Europe, and in as much as they showed the influence that ancient Greek writers had on European thought and literature. Analysis of these texts has generally focused either on their merit as literary texts or on distinguishing their ‘philhellenic’ side and contribution in legitimating the identity of the newly born Hellenic

29 Margarita Dritsas

Kingdom. Their value as precursors for modern travel literature and guidebooks has only very recently began to interest social scientists and historians. In what follows, the links of traditional travel writing with the phenomenon of tourism will be explored, particularly how it has been used by publishers of early travel books on Greece. The relation between travel narrative and guide-books, on the one hand illuminates the way in which individual travel was replaced by mass/group travel in the nineteenth century. On the other, it reveals the way in which tourism appropriated travel accounts as a series of commodities for mass consumption. The transition occurred along with other major transformations in Europe in the wake of the great revolutions, i.e. the industrial revolution, on the one hand, and the French revolution, on the other. The process had been gradual and was marked by the evolution of the ‘Grand Tour’ as it expanded eastward. At that time new nation-states, among them Greece, aroused increased interest not only for their relief that made up the identity of the places visited, but for their historical and ethnographic characteristics. This development, in its turn, induced innovations such as the establishment of specialized institutions whose task was to organize travel on a large scale. Travel books and travel agencies eventually proliferated creating and preserving a growing market for tourism. Within this market fairly standardized versions of what to see and visit became popular. As will be shown such institutions have energetically shaped demand by giving it particular content and by creating a particular tourist product and destination. The new genre of travel book writing was in sharp contrast to personal accounts and narratives of travelers and instead of the ‘enlarged thought’ induced by the earlier form of exploration travel, tourists were taught how and what to see and what to expect. The pattern, which emerged contributed to the shaping of a tourist identity, at least for particular groups, vis a vis the host country lasting for more than a century (until the 1960’s). Travel writing contributed to forging it by teaching1 leisure travellers to consume natural and cultural products. Traditional means through which travelers and potential travelers appreciated the world - literature, poetry, sketching and painting - were quickly and inexorably absorbed by a less colourful detached style of writing adopted by travel books. Out of these changes also emerged the tourist object as such, the popular tourist attraction and the cultural stereotype.2 Travel and guidebooks were in this sense one of the important innovations of the 19th century which shaped the institutionalization of the

30 TOURISMOS: AN INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF TOURISM Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 29-54 new phenomenon of tourism and its economy. Until today, although they have not ceased to diversify their content and scope, their target group of readers/users, their appropriation of new techniques, they have maintained their fundamental features: a particular outlook and a special perception of travel.

GREECE AND TRAVEL WRITING

Greece is one of the areas, which caught the interest of travelers fairly early, because of her geographic location between Europe and Asia and thanks to its cultural importance for the construction of the European identity over several centuries. Most parts of it had been the object of detailed descriptions for at least two centuries before the appearance of the first travel handbook in the late 1830s.3 Most travel accounts were written during the eighteenth and earlier part of the nineteenth centuries either as personal impressions by more or less affluent intellectuals (poets very frequently, among whom Lord Byron is probably the most illustrious). These individuals, on the one hand, fled from the horrors of industrialization, or from the stifling atmosphere of a rigidly stratified society, or simply imitated others. On the other hand, some were inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment and by Human Rights,4 while romanticism has had a particularly strong influence on them.5 Another important portion of travel accounts were compiled by traveling diplomats who had their attention turned to the foreign policy of their countries vis a vis the Ottoman Empire and/or the aspiring Greek nation. Some were stricter scientific or technical descriptions of the topography, architecture and natural resources of the countries in the East visited by scientific missions sponsored by heads of States and government agencies.6 All of these accounts usually addressed either a limited number of special recipients, or, in the case of literary accounts, no one particular group of readers; furthermore, there was no special purpose attached to them. They were rather unsystematic personal reminiscences and impressions. If there was any system attached to them, this was the result of externalities such as the itinerary, for instance, imposed by transport conditions of the period, or of particular events (war in Europe during and after the French revolution) or of the purpose of the missions. Many of those accounts when not expressed in verses, adopted the form of diaries, or letters to friends and relatives.7 Travel books came later and were a new type of publication.8 They have received no attention at all in Greek literature nor have they been

31 Margarita Dritsas analysed in any other discipline. One of the reasons for the neglect might be that they formed then, as they do now, a type of literature, difficult to categorize. Furthermore, they were (are) fairly circumscribed, they have been assumed to appeal to a particular group of readers and they were scorned because of their commercialized features. Unlike literary texts, they had an instrumental character and were used for special purposes. Another reason might be the frequent aversion of literary critics to deal with anything appealing to mass audiences. Besides, anything related to tourism had fairly early in the process, generally, acquired a derogatory aspect, in Greece and in the rest of Europe.9 More popular have been serious novels, written by established foreign authors. Examples readily coming to mind are Arthur Miller’s The Colossus of Maroussi; Laurence Durrell’s Clea, of the Alexandrian Quartet, a novel staged on the island of Rhodes, or Durrell’s writings about Corfu; works by Patrick Lee Fermour, which best evoke the ‘spirit of Greece’, or more recently still, Barry Unsworth’s Paschalis Island and Louis De Bernier’s Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and many others, several of which have been translated into Greek and received prizes, or have been dramatized for television or the cinema. They have contributed considerably to Greek tourism by raising the value of the places, which are central in the plot/story.10 Finally, the general absence until now of any interest for the history of tourism has also been, to a large measure, responsible for the neglect.

HANDBOOKS FOR TRAVELLERS

Even a cursory reading reveals very quickly that there is a gradual transformation of handbooks from something resembling personal travel accounts at the initial phase of their development, to a more standardized detached form of writing combining many types of works, towards the end of the nineteenth century. Every new edition brought new adjustment as the number of readers/travelers grew, while competition among publishers also soared. They battled for larger readerships and time saving in the publishing process led to churning out functional, portable books. The new products should be popular and recognizable by as many tourists as possible. Under the concern for higher accuracy in the information provided, and better coordination in the planning of a journey, (which were also real problems then), ‘personalized’ comments tended to disappear. On the other hand, editors of travel books drew legitimacy from the old idea that whoever wrote a handbook should have personal

32 TOURISMOS: AN INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF TOURISM Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 29-54 experience of the country concerned. The experience was then adjusted to the presumed demand of the average traveller exercising authoritative power over those travellers who chose the books. During the second half of the century, competition for larger audiences, greater accuracy and quality of information, led to more changes which pulled the writing even further away from traditional literature. Academics and specialists were invited to supply their ‘scientific’ appreciation and opinion on Greek Art, History, Archaeology, Ethnology. Just as banks and factories and trade unions and a host of other institutions shaped the business landscape in industry and commerce, so too, publishers through their handbooks, were shaping demand for tourism and thereby also influencing the supply side. Other shrewd entrepreneurs also intervened to shape the supply. Admittedly the most influential for a long time was Thomas Cook who cooperated with travel agents, hoteliers, and other suppliers in Greece. Just like with the industrial revolution, so too with tourism, England was the origin of outgoing tourists, the place where for at least half a century, handbooks for travellers proliferated, while issues in other European cities appeared only much later. On the continent, Germany was the most important. Two institutions dominated the scene, the publisher John Murray, of Albermarle St, London, and later, Karl Baedeker in Leipzig, who survived into the twentieth century as the undisputed authority on travel books. The Murray handbooks, nevertheless, were the earliest fairly standardized texts of that type which began to be published from the 1830s onwards. Earlier attempts at writing handbooks for the Continent existed but were not as systematic as those by Murray. Furthermore, they addressed only small privileged audiences.11 When J. Murray III made his first trip to the Continent in 1829, found very few works ‘deserving the name’ of Guide. Among those, however, which served as a model for subsequent standardization were Mariana Starke’s works, rather hybrid texts which combined literary features and other more objective observations about the places examined. They took the form of letters, or were written with a journalistic slant.12 Murray’s innovation was that he gave handbooks a recognizable form - slim, portable, structured in chapters, containing practical information about modes of transport and itineraries, about servants, moneys, dragomans, hotels, food etc. and about recommended routes for tourists. At the same time Murray capitalized on the long tradition connecting poetry with travel. Through this schema, Murray and his successors, gradually transformed the earlier rich discourse of travelling poets and other intellectuals into standard suggestions (recipes) of appreciation. One of the motives, no doubt being higher profit, recycling older literature led to

33 Margarita Dritsas widening the readership and thus created a new market and new consumers for new products. The integration of Greece as a destination for modern visitors followed that of other continental countries. Italy and France (Germany to a far lesser extent) had preceded as destinations or stops on the basic route for Grand Tourists of the eighteenth century. Integration of new countries further South and to the East, seemed to follow the pattern of trade expansion and changes in the balance of power in the region. An indication of the period is provided by the publication of the earliest handbook on Greece published by John Murray in 1840.13 It was entitled ‘A Handbook for Travellers in the Ionian Islands, Greece, Turkey, Asia Minor and Constantinople; being a guide to the Principal Routes in those countries including a description of Malta; with Maxims and Hints for Travellers in the East, With Index maps and plans. Parts of Greece were also included in the section entitled Turkey which was divided into two subparts, one being Turkey in Europe, or Albania, Thessaly and Macedonia. It is no coincidence, that John Murray was also Byron’s publisher. Byron, above all other romantic poets, has had a profound influence on travel, and it was Byron’s works which, before the appearance of handbooks, but subsequently, too, were carried by visitors as ‘guides to the sentiments of the tour’.14 Byron by drawing freely from history and interweaving incidents and myths with personal feelings and impressions, related them to the places he (and other contemporary and future tourists) visited on the Continent, especially in Italy, Switzerland and Greece.15 Byron has been, in fact, credited, with creating modern tourism. For Greece, he has certainly been a most influential herald. Impressions from his first travel in 1809 must have made a special impact, his experience surpassing his wildest imagination since he was traversing some of the wildest and most dangerous country in Europe through Albania and Western Greece south to Patras and then to Delphi (‘wandering slow by Delphi’s sacred side’) and finally to Athens. In the fashion of romantic poets, he ‘...had achieved to make the picturesque stride come out of its frame and to life.’16. Byron’s contemporary critic and poet, S.T. Coleridge, called him, rather insultingly, a ‘picturesque tourist’ and it is true that Byron all his life embodied the early tourist by settling easily into an unaccustomed way of life.17 Childe Harold’s verses, written on his first visit to Greece, expressed succinctly Byron’s expectations and attitude: ‘Peril he sought not/ but ne’ver shrank to meet/The scene was savage/ but the scene was new/ This made the ceaseless toil of travel sweet/ Beat back keen winter’s blast/ and welcom’d summer’s

34 TOURISMOS: AN INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF TOURISM Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 29-54 heat’(Canto II, stanza XLII). As J. Buzard has put it, ‘...it was the general Byronic aura that most significantly altered tourist conventions. For the tourist who could evoke it, the ‘Byronic’ held out the promise of making Continental experience ‘live’, of saturating it anew with poetical evocations, pathos, and even the frisson of a sexual daring not for domestic consumption’.18 One of the poems that best evoked such feeling was the one Byron wrote in 1810 after leaving Athens and the lodgings of Mrs. Tassia Macri. Under the Acropolis, he had fallen in love with one of her daughters and hence, for every male tourist of the nineteenth century, Greece held the promise of exotic, sublime, juvenile love to be found in Athens on the way to Constantinople: “Maid of Athens, ere we Part”/ “...Maid of Athens! I am gone:/Think of me, sweet! When alone./Though I fly to Istambol,/Athens holds my heart and soul:/Can I cease to love thee? No!/Ζώη µου, σας αγαπώ.//. Canto II of Childe Harold, on the other hand, must have sounded like a hymn about Greece with its many allusions to mythology and to Greek history, to the ‘Old [is the] heart of Greece’ (stanza XV), which with the help of Athina, Peleus, Arion, Hecate Calypso, Penelope guided Byron’s spirits, his exhilaration and communion with Nature: ‘To sit on rocks, to muse o’ver flood and fell, to slowly trace the forest’s shady scene...This is no solitude; ‘tis but to hold Converse with Nature’s charms, and see her stores unroll’d.’. Whole stanzas were devoted to the wilderness and beauty of Pindus and Parnassus, to Epirus, Leucada, Acarnania, Aetolia, and Delphi. Impressions from other spots, e.g. Sunion, Marathon, and so on, were incorporated in many other poems of his. It is a shame that the recent campaign launched by the Ministry of Tourism has not incorporated some of these powerful myths and legends. Murray was quick to capture the importance of the ‘Byronic’ potential and, soon after publishing the first travel books, produced a pocket-sized Lord Byron’s Poetry, which travellers could carry with their other handbooks.19 On the other hand, whole Stanzas and isolated verses by Byron found regularly their way into the handbooks descriptions.

The Murray Handbooks and early conditions of traveling

For the first time, therefore a systematic synthesis of practical hints and literature was produced. In the Preface of the 1840 Handbook to Greece, the importance of improved means of transport and communication was acknowledged and so was the ‘consequent increase of travellers in scenes of such deep and varied interest’. According to the publisher’s note, the handbook was compiled by comparing, extracting

35 Margarita Dritsas and compressing earlier, even ancient, works and notices of routes, and information of ethnographical and historical character. The information provided was the result of selection of only ‘such portions as might secure to the genius of each locality its appropriate share of interest’. Greece was inserted in a Handbook for the East, a reminder perhaps that demand for Orientalism was strong then. It followed the publication of different other guides for Germany, Switzerland and other parts of Europe. Personal experience was ensured by a Mr. Levinge who had lived in the Levant for two years and various authors/travellers, were consulted, (e.g. Tournefort, Clarke, Leake, Pashley,Wordsworth, Hamilton, Walsh, Fellows etc.). The handbook also included the necessary updated accounts about regulations of steam-navigation and quarantines in England, Austria, France, Turkey and Greece. Warnings were not excluded that ‘the desolating wars and infernal convulsions of recent years have...defaced in so many instances the vestiges of ancient grandeur, that the traveller may sometimes find the description of local objects not entirely borne out by the relics that remain...’20 Efforts were made so that the texts be completely devoid of any political allusions and indeed, the editor in the Preface was categorical. ‘In excluding all political matter or disquisitions as inappropriate in a work like the present, it has been the object of the Editor to render it acceptable and accessible to the reader of every foreign country’. Despite that, this early handbook was imbued with the ideology and attitude of the British Colonial upper and middle classes (and protestants) about an orthodox country and a people on the frontier of orientalism. The handbook indeed addressed the affluent, educated bourgeois or professional people and their families who lived in larger and smaller towns, not only in Britain but elsewhere in Europe too, who, secure in their wealth and colonial certainties could read English, possibly some Greek and Latin too. The influence of classical education was obvious as was also the impact of archaeology which had around that time started to gain prestige. Written in English, the text included citations and passages from Homer, Xenofon, Thucidides, Pausanias etc. (mostly in translation). Members of the reading public were increasingly going on holidays abroad and were embracing the new ethic of scientific discovery and observation, of exactitude and, obviously, respect of time, without, at the same time, relinquishing their deeply rooted protestantism and relative scorn of the ‘orthodox’ orient. The Murray handbook reflected its public when it inserted Greece in the East.21 In 1840, therefore, the process of guiding the ‘tourist gaze’22 had definitely been set in motion. The East was undeveloped, its mysteries ready to be revealed; and in the absence of

36 TOURISMOS: AN INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF TOURISM Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 29-54 modern transport, travelling on horseback was recommended not simply as a necessity, but also because, although hard, affords ‘...every circumstance of scenery, and climate becomes of interest and value, and the minutest incident of country, or of local habits cannot escape observation.... You are constantly in the full enjoyment of the open air of a heavenly climate, its serenity sinks into the mind’. Furthermore, this escape from the industrialized North and West into pure nature in the South and East could ‘only be done in comfort and advantage if [one travels]...according to the rule and custom of the country’.23 Travellers were, nevertheless, advised to bring with them English saddles and bridles for more comfort, and bedding (a strange sort of sleeping bag/individual tent-and- mosquito and vermin protector) and a canteen.24 Since one of the great impediments of travelling in these parts was the lack of knowledge of foreign (‘remote’) languages, the Handbook circumvented the problem by suggesting to travellers/readers to learn the basics before the journey commenced (‘rather difficult’) or, (more common) to employ a proficient servant. Such servants, interpreters, guides, dragomans, commissionnaires, all qualified and adaptable people were often migrant, members of a new fluid small world, who also contributed to shaping culture around modern tourism. They were indeed a central pillar of nineteenth century travelling and Greece emulatd the pattern developed a little earlier by Italy. It appeared that Italian was used more or less as a ‘lingua franca’ of tourists travelling to the Mediterranean on their way to the East. Although the author of the guidebook stressed that a servant had to be acquainted with the language of most of the countries through which the route lay, he consented that... ‘Next to [Greek], Italian will be found the most useful language both in Greece and Turkey’. The Handbook also indicated that ‘Servants, capable of acting as interpreters, were difficult to find in England’, and provided certain names as references. In fact, a warning against English servants, was included, since [they] ‘are in general incumbrances... usually little disposed to adapt themselves to new customs....more annoyed by hardships than their masters’. Travellers were also warned that ‘...honesty was a qualification rarely to be met amongst the professional dragomans, who consider the English as fair game, and endeavour to make as much money of them as possible’. Among the various other warnings of the Handbook, a particular one makes reference once more to the enormous influence of Byron, this time in shaping a career: Thus, ‘Most of the Greek servants take care to inform travellers that they were in the service of Lord Byron, and from our experience I should say it would be a rarity

37 Margarita Dritsas to find one who had not been in his lordship’s suite according to his own account.’25 Byronic descriptions were not only romantic. Byron had preceded Murray in describing port conditions and facilities in his poems and reading the guidebook’s objective accounts of customs houses, boat conditions etc. one cannot help comparing them to Byron’s own humorous verses. In his Lines to Mr. Hodgson (written onboard the Lisbon Packet in 1809) on his way to ‘Turkey”, Byron humourously described the hustle and bustle of the port, the laziness of the servants, (he travelled with three servants, Fletcher, Murray and Bob), the sickness of his fellow passengers and their disappointment over the facilities offered onboard.26 The influence of Byron also reappeared in the text when Murray recommended different routes, often with citations from the poet’s verses.27 One of those had to do with the Acropolis and in the relevant passage, Murray joined Byron in lamenting and protesting about the removal of the Parthenon marbles. The Murray Handbook may have, indeed, been among the earliest (if not the earliest) protest against Lord Elgin’s atrocity.28 Murray may have been a philhellene, however, his outrage must have undoubtedly also been the result of his realization that if all the antiquities were to be removed from their original setting, there would be precious little left for tourists to visit and for his Handbook to advertise. In the same volume, where the Parthenon and the other temples of the Acropolis were described (probably by someone other than J. Murray), a matter-of-fact tone contradicted the earlier anger and reference was made to the British Museum collection and the purchase of Lord Elgin’s collection by the Parliament. If admiration was shown for ancient glory and grandeur, travellers, nevertheless, were warned to show caution about immigrants: ‘Settlers are often of the worst character, caution is needed if hiring an attendant’. It was recommended that travellers remained in touch with British authorities, among other reasons, to obtain information about the state of the roads, the health and security of the country in the different routes. Murray of course did not limit the scope of the Handbook to Byron. Nine pages were devoted to the antiquities of Athens and the Acropolis alone. The description of the Parthenon was taken from Christopher Wordsworth’29 as was the description of the Temple of Thesseus, the fountain of Clepsydra and the Tower of the Winds, whereas the part referring to the road to Pentelicus from Calandra was chosen from Blewitt, and the general impression about Athens and its surroundings, from Holland30 for whom ’...a certain genius of the place... unites and gives a character and colouring to the whole; ...this genius loci is one

38 TOURISMOS: AN INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF TOURISM Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 29-54 which strikingly connects the modern Athens with the city of former days...’ Murray also used passages from Dodwell and to describe the naval battle of Naupaktos, he used Hobhouse’s (Byron’s friend) words.31 In part I dealing with the Ionian Islands and especially with Corfu, Murray inserted whole passages in translation from Homer. He also urged ‘gentlemen’ to visit the High Commissioner, or leave their names and address at the Palace. Their stay in town was planned for them and there were many suggestions for social outings and making acquaintances.32 They could go to the theatre, where they could enjoy performances of Italian Operas and comedies. As for knowledge about the local population, ‘the acquaintance of any of the professors of the University founded by Lord Guildford [which] will enable him [the traveller] to form his own opinion of the general education of the Ionian population. Indeed, this was an exercise in constructing the ‘tourist gaze’ but a gaze much more sophisticated than what the average tourist gets today. Yet, sophistication did not include progressive or tolerant thinking and the Orthodox East was presented as next to barbaric. Tourists were instructed to see it in the same light during St. Spyridon’s day in which ‘the mummy-like face of the saint, a most disgusting object’. The procession of 15th April, was described from the vantage point of a British colonial protestant as ‘an absurd affectation of compliance with the prejudices of the people, which occasions much annoyance to both officers and men, [and] has been adopted with a view to conciliate the affection of the natives. Recommended places to visit were of course the esplanade, the main street where good shops were located and ‘the noble palace built by Sir T. Maitland (first Lord High Commissioner) and the Governor’s villa built by Sir Frederick Adam.33 Antiquities, which had not yet assumed universal recognition were relegated to lower status as ‘in the rear of it [the palace] are the ruins of Old Corcyra, which are uninteresting and undefined’.34 Part II of the handbook dealt with Greece, proper. Great emphasis was put on communications - passenger and mail shipping.35 For the rest, Murray recommended travelling on horseback, since few roads existed,36 in diligences and other carriages for Athens or by omnibus which run on the Athens-Piraeus road every day, or, finally by hiring a carriage. According to the Handbook, attendants were useful, not only as guides, but in procuring lodgings in private houses in the villages where the traveller halted. An alternative recommended way of visiting a great part of the country and the islands was by boats which could be hired at most sea-ports. Apparently hiring boats was open to abuse and Murray recommended hiring from people known to the Consul, or to some

39 Margarita Dritsas respectable resident merchant. He also mentioned that piracy might still occur. Accommodation, naturally, occupied a special part in the Handbook and the introduction contained valuable information about different types of hotels, rates and conditions of accessibility. A hierarchy was constructed: There were, on the one hand, khans established throughout the country and repaired after Independence, which were run by poor Greek families, and where simple food and refreshments were served. On the other hand, there were some hotels founded in the 1830s by Italians, Germans, French and other foreigners at Patras, Corinth, Athens, Nauplia, Navarino and Modon. Other useful details about the first phase of tourist development emerge between the lines. For example, apart from established hotels, ‘hospitality of the natives’ - hiring rooms in private houses - was just as important, whilst keepers of cofee-houses also lodged travellers either around the room with twenty or so other guests or ‘on billiard tables’, which must have been much more comfortable than the floor. Finally, in small villages, peasants sometimes offered lodging in their cottages, which were extremely ‘uncomfortable’. Bargaining was recommended before occupying rooms in a private house. Finally, the Handbook ascertained visitors that since Independence, although the situation around the country was characterized as ‘uncertain’, it was better, and safe to sleep in tents. Increased travelling, after Independence, and intense diplomatic and economic activity, created a momentum for organizing facilities for longer-stays of visitors in main towns. The Handbook, naturally, recorded the changes. Thus, ‘furnished apartments have been fitted at Nauplia and Athens for the accommodation of travellers but...they are very dear... At Athens, a very good boarding and lodging-house is kept by Madame Vitalis, where, we learn, a banker’s introduction was necessary. The profile of the visitor of Athens who chose to reside in such accommodation was that of an affluent bourgeois who for leisure or business, planned an extensive stay in the Greek capital in order to establish a bank or an industry, or to negotiate with the government concessions for business transactions. Visitors were also diplomats - transient or resident - archaeologists and/or scientists who planned to travel around in search of antiquities or as members of special delegations. Handbooks for travellers provided an abundance of information on climate and dietary conditions but what was new and important for tourism was the sort of details about the people of the country which contributed to the construction of stereotypes. In the chapter entitled

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Manners and Customs of the Greeks, the Murray Handbook called the attention of the tourists to the ‘manners of Greeks (which) have an air of obsequiousness and insincerity. They are attentive and perform the rites of hospitality with good humour and politeness but it is uncertain that the speech will not terminate in the horrors of a petition.’ The scene is guaranteed as authentic by mentioning the traveller who provided such information, none other than Byron’s life-long friend, John Cam Hobhouse. Fake authenticity and stereotyping needed a mix of objective criteria and prejudice, but also revealed the strength of the market. The attempt was particularly successful when it referred to the economic motives and professional activity of the people: ‘The love of money is the prevailing passion of the Greek. He would sell any of his possessions. The first commendation bestowed by a Greek on his neighbour or other person is that he is rich... The Greeks are all more or less traders, even the Princes of the Fanar, from whose families the Hospodars of Wallachia and Moldavia are chosen are engaged in merchandise. Though the Greeks are avaricious they are not miserly, but are not only fond of show but profuse and generous...’.37 Eastern stereotypes were, on the other hand, strengthened by the evocation of physical traits, and a certain concealed idealized eroticism (not to say homosexuality), thus male Greeks were resembled with their ancient ancestors, whereas a certain misogyny was not altogether absent. ‘A national likeness is observable in all the Greeks. Islanders are darker and of a stronger make. Men are remarkably handsome; their features are the same as those, which served for models to the ancient sculptors; their eyes are large and black with arched eyebrows and their complexion brown but clear. The women are very inferior both in face and figure to the men, and when they attain the age of 25-30 become fat and unwieldy. And in another part: ‘The women at Athens are in general by no means celebrated for their beauty’. As for Byron’s authentic experience of love the ‘ “Maid of Athens” is now Mrs. Black, and one of her sisters is the wife of M. Pittakys, keeper of the museum and author of an interesting account of the antiquities.’ Orientalism once more creeps in when ‘Both men and women are in the highest degree superstitious believing all the absurd dogmas and superstitions of their church. They have a great dread of the Evil Eye’.38 Other general points were made in the Handbook with regard to conforming to formalities related with a journey to Greece. A lot may be learned about money circulation (notes of Herries, Hammersley and Coutts, negotiable in the Ionian Islands, Greece and Constantinople). and their equivalent value in English currency. Passport regulations were also important and care was taken by the publisher to provide correct

41 Margarita Dritsas guidelines. By the time Murray began to address his tourists, regulations in Europe were normalized and the British influence on Greek affairs was fully deployed. Assuming that most of Murray’s readers were British travellers, they had relatively fewer problems compared with other nationalities, given that the gate to Greece - the Ionian Islands - was then on British soil. They were, therefore, advised that on arriving in the Ionian Islands or in Greece, they should have their passports vise’d by the British authorities previous to travelling in the interior and thus they would be able to minimize any unwanted hassle. Preparation of a journey also included carrying an impressive list of provisions and other requisites for travelling. Their purpose was to increase the autonomy of travellers but at the same time facilitate their contact with the locals. Such items included: tents, oilcloth hammocks, carpets, a mattress, a canteen and a lantern, certain foodstuff difficult to find locally (e.g. arrowroot, rice, tea, brandy, biscuits, maccaroni, cheese, Harvey sauce, mustard, preserved meats, hams and so on), a gimblet (a sort of peg), protection from vermin, a structure for sleeping in the open air with canes, calico sheets and a muslin canopy,39 an English saddle, the indispensable umbrella, a wide brimmed straw hat, a green veil or blue spectacles, a basin of block tin, a looking glass, sheets and towels, a thermometer, a case of mathematical instruments, a telescope, drawing paper, pencils, rubber, measuring tape and pedometer, a gun for shooting game.40 Travelling for the British was also a way to widen their social (and business) circle and make new acquaintances. Organizers were, therefore, eager to make travellers feel at home in foreign lands. They advised them not to lose their connection with the British (colonial) authorities and carry along presents for those who would offer them hospitality in Greece. Knives, pistols, needles, telescopes, pencils, toys for children, ladies’ ornaments for the people, as well as Prints of the Queen and ministers for the consular agents and new periodicals, caricatures and Greek books for their families and other hosts were suggested. In subsequent editions of the Handbook for Travellers important changes were brought about reflecting both the differentiation in the readership and political changes in the region. Greece was by then a consolidated nation-state and Europe looked back favourably at the Independence movement and the Greek Revolution. Tourists had increased in number and had diversified, as evidenced by the circulation of Murray Handbooks, which had risen to 15,000 annually. In 1872, the revised 4th edition contained 505 pages and some important innovations. Texts on ancient Art were written by professional, architects and archaeologists, including for the first time Mr. Roussopoulos, a Greek a

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Professor of Archaeology in the University of Athens. An American Traveller, Mr. Keep, revised the other texts after exploring nearly all parts of the country for two years. Greece had gained prestige among European nations and was considered a much safer place for travel, especially after the ascent to the Throne of King George I and the annexation of the Ionian Islands and public opinion in Britain was positive. Murray was naturally keen to exploit the good climate by trying, on the one hand, to widen the readership - and the travelling public - and, on the other, to add weight to the idea of using handbooks. Although advertising was not yet sufficiently developed, Murray used press reports as a form of advertisement.41 Thus, a traveller/politician ‘may contemplate the condition and progress of a people of illustrious origin .... (and as)...the struggles of Greece must command the sympathy of all thoughtful minds... we cannot but look upon the recovery of the Christian nationality of Greece as one of the most important of modern events...’ Apart from politicians artists were present too in the author’s - and Murray’s - mind, but the classical scholars - or public school educated middle classes – still had obviously first choice, since ‘...in all parts of the country the traveller is, as it were, left alone with antiquity...’41 Murray also tried to convince his readers and future tourists that he was the only authority able to diffuse the necessary information and knowledge about the new areas to be visited. Extracts from a letter were also included, referring to several categories of visitors - classical and literary travellers, naval and military personnel, young people, book writers and ‘disappointed jobbers or would-be-settlers42 - and he insisted that ‘few travellers can give a decent account of Greece or any other country from personal knowledge...’ He was happy to do it for them by dedicating a special chapter to modern Greek history, while information was also given about the economic activities of Greeks (commercial activities, especially with regard to corn trade) in Greece and abroad (diaspora) before concluding in a true British business fashion that …‘we shall indeed be proud and happy if any labours of ours, now or hereafter, can prove of service to any part of the Greek race, by diffusing in England accurate information as to their present condition and character. They have been much misrepresented, partly through ignorance, partly through prejudice...’43 The portrait of Greeks painted in the 1872 edition was, indeed, much more favourable and gentle than the one in 1840. No doubt it recorded important changes which had meanwhile occurred in Greece, but it also reflected the new direction of British foreign policy towards the country and the increased economic interest shown by British business. A European profile at least of the middle classes was an important parameter of the new political

43 Margarita Dritsas reality and kept many new promises for modern travel and communication. ‘The manners and customs of the higher and best educated classes among the Greeks now differ but little from those of Western Europe...44 The link with Byron was also still present in the 1872 edition45 of the Handbook, Furthermore, specific reference was made to the usefulness of ‘Byron’s poems pocket companion’ (published by Murray) for every English traveller in Greece. In comparison with the first Handbook, the 4th revised edition was more rationally structured containing chapters about Hellenic Architecture, an outline of Modern Greek History, Observations on the modern Greek language, on the Character, manners and customs of the inhabitants of the Greek Provinces of Turkey. Warnings against brigandage and modes of protection were more forcefully put across than in previous editions, since the recollection of the Pikermi massacre of 1870 was still raw. Ethnographic references were more frequent than in the early text regarding Albanians, Wallachs, or Slavs. In constrast to earlier editions, there was a matter-of-fact and rather respectful tone about traditions, customs and superstitions. Characteristically, the passage about St. Spyridon’s day in Corfu was in 1872 radically different from the earlier (1840) version as emphasis was put on the ‘...most remarkable church of St. Spyridon of Corfu’; reference to the mummy had disappeared and instead the Saint’s ‘body is preserved in a richly ornamented case’. The social content had changed. ‘Three times a year the body of the Saint is carried in solemn procession around the esplanade, followed by the Greek clergy and all the native authorities. The sick are sometimes brought out and laid where the Saint may be carried over them.’ Natives were not only miraculously replaced by the clergy and the authorities but also by ‘a noble corfiote family to whom the church belongs’. Furthermore, it was deemed more important to mention that ‘the annual offerings at this shrine amount to a considerable sum’.46 New information included suggestions for walks through Plaka and other quarters in Athens and details about shopping.

Baedeker’s Handbook

The new style of the Handbook conformed to the need of curbing competition from other publishers, who were no longer only British. In fact, there was considerable resemblance with the first German handbook for Greece published by Karl Baedeker. It was also entitled Handbook for

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Travellers with a Panorama of Athens, 6 maps and 14 plans and appeared in Leipsig and London in 1889, in English. Considerable changes had occurred by the end of the century to Europe and the Balkans and the degree of European integration was higher. On the other hand, modern railways and steamers had brought Athens within four days from London, the establishment of the telegraph since 1836 made coordination much easier and the adventure of the journey was now more focused. Tourism was acquiring momentum and much of it was cultural tourism. The Baedeker Handbooks were published with the purpose of covering the new needs, but Byron’s verses (“Where’er we tread ‘tis haunted, holy ground/ ‘No earth of thine is lost in vulgar mould”) were placed ‘en exergue’ acknowledging the importance of the English romantic poet on tourism. The editor’s note outlined the scope of the book: ‘To supply the traveller with the most necessary information regarding the history and culture of the people he is about to visit, to render him as independent as possible of the services of couriers and guides, and commissionnaires, to protect him against extortion, and in every way to aid him in deriving enjoyment and instruction from his tour in one of the most profoundly interesting countries in the world’. The triptyche culture, education, leisure, defined the essence of tourism at the end of the 19th century as the new authority on travel books, Karl Baedeker, understood it. The concept was quite close to the tradition of searching for the folkgeist, which had dominated intellectual circles in Germany during the 19th century. Education and instruction was, on the other hand, in the core of the process of unification and the subsequent remarkable progress of modern Germany. Admiration for the beauty of nature, although present, was in a way less central than comprehension of historical achievement and acculturation processes. “Even the shortest sojourn in the country itself will yield the richest rewards and contribute more than long years of study towards a thorough comprehension of a civilisation, from which modern life has still much to learn’.47 Enjoyment seemed devoid of all sense of pleasure - and/or communion with nature; it was understood rather as intellectual satisfaction derived from travelling back in history and civilization with the help of modern technology and good organization. With regard to the practical side, like Murray’s and Baedeker’s other handbooks, the one on Greece was also based on personal experience and knowledge of the places described. ‘The nucleus of the guide was prepared by Dr. Lolling of Athens, who had resided in Greece for many years and had made several special journeys in the interests of the Handbook’. Concern for science, accuracy, combination of theory and

45 Margarita Dritsas practice (experience) was obvious since descriptions of archaeological sites were furnished by professional scholars and archaeologists who supervised excavations in the country (e.g. the account of Olympia supplied by Dr. Dorpfeld and Dr. Karl Purgold). Karl Baedeker, himself, had visited Greece and added hints. The introductory sketch of Greek Art was prepared by Professor Reinhard Kekule, while other scholars had assisted with the Greek language, metrical versions of the epigrams and revision of the bibliography, which was impressive in its detail, and comprehensiveness.48 In the well known German fashion, great pain was taken to ensure accuracy, as maps and plans were prepared from the latest material, the map of Greece (kingdom of Hellas) being based on the map of the Imperial Geographical Institute of Vienna with modifications and additions. Other maps came from the German Archaeological Institute and the French Scientific Mission. Maps of Greek shores and islands were based on those from the English Admiralty. The archaeological digs which had started in Athens in 1834-36 by foreigners and the Hellenic Archaeological Society had already yielded important finds, and naturally the emphasis of travel books at the end of the century was put on these discoveries. The German government had began to dig in Olympia in 1874, and by the time the handbook was written, small independent museums had sprung up in main towns and large public collections were established in Athens. The handbook was better structured than all the previous ones and established the standard pattern of modern travel books which remained the same for a long time: A long Introduction was divided into several chapters dealing with practical hints, keys about modern Greek as a language (vocabulary, simple grammar and useful phrases), information about the administrative/geographic divisions of the country and a general sketch of the Economy. There was a description of the Greek people, a chronological survey of Greek History, and a special chapter on Greek Art (from the prehistoric stages through the classical period down to Roman times), as well as notes on books and maps. Then followed the part dedicated to the different routes from Europe to Athens, itineraries for walks in Athens with sites and museums to be visited, and suggestions about excursions in Attica, Aegina and Syra. Separate chapters were included on Central Greece, Thessaly, the Peloponnesus. A matter-of-fact tone was adopted throughout, although in the chapter on the Greek People, it was easy to detect political views. German preoccupations about the ethnic and racial constitution of the Balkans, after the redrawing of national frontiers in the area by the Congress of Berlin in 1878, could be easily discerned, the relevant propaganda being epitomized by the use

46 TOURISMOS: AN INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF TOURISM Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 29-54 of Fallmerayer’s assumptions of the ‘impurity of Greeks’, the importance of the Slav element and the presence of Albanians and Wallachians. In contrast, Jews, Turks, Francs and Gipsies, according to the Handbook, were so few in number, that their presence ‘has no ethnographical bearing’.49 The ‘tourist gaze’ of the end of the 19th century imparted by the Baedeker handbook was politically correct. The tourists were guided to learn about – and observe - Greek political behaviour as well as educational achievements. Despite similarities with Murray’s Handbook, on the whole, the Baedeker companion was imbued with a different spirit, more profound, more authoritative, more rational and definitely more detached. Whereas, for instance, Murray only talked about the great educational achievements of Greeks, describing a School in Athens which was founded by an American couple, (The Hill School), Baedeker preferred to give statistics about schools and higher education institutions, and at the same time, criticise the ‘superfluous Greeks who qualify for medicine, law and the other liberal professions and then are compelled to make a living by extra-professional activity ...which sometimes takes a disagreeable form’. There were also the usual warnings about dishonesty of the natives,50 which, however, were attenuated by praising the patriotism of Greeks, their cheerful and lively character, their friendliness towards foreigners, and their simple lifestyle. The search of the ‘innocent savage’ of the East was shaping the perception of the author and publisher. Competition among publishers had given handbooks a particular style which was reflected on their target readership. New destinations and new ideas about traveling have not ceased to proliferate. By 1880, Murray’s Foreign Handbooks amounted to 31, including a ‘Travel Talk, and a phrase book, in English, French, German and Italian. Two handbooks had been published on Germany, one on Switzerland, one for the Continent. Three had been devoted to France and Paris, six to Italy, one on Spain, Algeria, Portugal, Greece, Belgium and Holland, two on India, and again another one on Egypt, Greece, Turkey in Asia, and one each on Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Russia and the Holy Land. Since tourism to Italy was particularly oriented towards culture, especially painting, there was now a special Handbook on Italian Painting, After fifty years of guiding tourists to all accessible destinations using mainly railways and steamers, a new excitement was now offered to them. In 1881, the field was further innovated when Murray published the Handbook to the Mediterranean, its cities, coasts, islands for the use of travellers and yachtsmen. To see the shores of the Mediterranean in yachts and sea-steamers sailing ‘to that great inland basin on whose

47 Margarita Dritsas shores rose all the mighty Empires of the world...’ was the new adventure. Athens was one of the cities briefly outlined in this new Handbook since many yachtsmen would go on inland excursions from the ports. As for the rest of the Greek coasts, the discovery of Mount Athos and its treasures by the West absorbed 8 pages and there were descriptions of most of the Monasteries. The Greek Archipelago (Sporades, North-East Aegean islands, the Dodecanese complex, the Cyclades and Crete) were all included as well as the coasts of Euboea, Central Greece, Attica, the Saronic and Corinthian Gulfs, the route round Peloponnesus, western Greece and the Ionian islands. The proliferation of Handbooks and the constant desire and effort of publishers to innovate led to further perfecting the ‘tourist gaze’ and standardising history and culture, thereby contributing to the emergence of the tourism market. At the same time, these pioneers of the market, integrated not only Europe but most of the world into a cohesive network bringing travelers (today the equivalent would be the internet travel web) with similar needs, tastes, expectations closer and linking them with other points on the network. If during the 19th century the identity of a tourist to Greece was shaped to a certain extent by a Murray handbook, by the early twentieth century, the identity of a tourist revolved around a Baedeker book. The new style obviously fitted better the new societies and the new travellers/tourists. Apart from Handbooks many other publications were used like the Murray’s Handbook Advertiser, which contained advertisements of hotels and various other tourist establishments in places included in the handbooks.51

CONCLUSION

If the advent of tourism was determined by the transport revolution, by the conclusion of peace in Europe after the Napoleonic Wars, by political and diplomatic mobility and by increased trade relations, the role of new institutions was of no less importance. Alongside hotels and travel agencies, publishing houses had played a crucial role in diffusing information and knowledge, in shaping the ‘tourist gaze’ in giving life to a new social figure ‘the tourist’. The tools of such action were the various handbooks for travelers, which saw the day from the 1830s onwards. Reference was made in this paper to the most representative ones for Greece, on the one hand, J. Murray’s Handbook for Travelers of 1840 and 1872, and K. Baedeker’s Travel book, published in 1889, on the other. Both publishers drew largely on the previous tradition of literary works

48 TOURISMOS: AN INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF TOURISM Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2006, pp. 29-54 about travel, which they succeeded to commercialize. At the same time they adjusted to the rising demand for travel towards the East and South by tourists from the West and North of Europe. The outcome of this activity was the shaping of a growing market and demand of modern travellers, for exotic and authentic experiences. The whole world was eventually integrated into a system linking consumers with similar taste, identities and expectations to the suppliers of natural and cultural products and experiences. Although there were differences between the English and the German Handbooks, at least as regards Greece, within the dominant pattern of cultural tourism of the 19th century, both models responded to the rise of archaeology and ethnography two of the disciplines, which also shaped modern tourism until the mid 20th century. They also recorded changes, which had occurred in Greece and gave expression to the perceptions of their readers about the region. Handbooks also reflected the movement of literature from a more personal, romantic, literary style in the early 19th century to a detached, authoritative and closer to science style at the end of the period. Each style corresponded to a different national tradition and history but both came out of the transformation of a rural society into an industrial one and remained attached to the belief that the market and science would automatically organize all societies.

REFERENCES

Baedeker, K. (1889), Greece, Handbook for Travellers, Leipsig, London. Buzard, J. (1993), the Beaten Track: Clarendon Press Byron, G.G. (Lord), (1812). Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage: j. Murray Dodwell, E. (1819), Classical and Topographical Tour, 2 vols. London. Dritsas, Margarita (1999) Ο Μ. Καραγάτσης και ο Ελληνικός Τουρισµός, (Karagatsis and Greek Tourism): Επιλογή (Epilogi) 6/99 Fleming, J. (1722), the Gentleman’s Pocket Companion for Travelling into Foreign Parts. Holland, W. (1812), Travels in the Ionian Isles, Thessaly, Macedonia etc., London Karkavitsas, A.(1998), Ταξιδιωτικά (Essays on Travel) introduction- Anthology by Elias Ch. Papademetrakopoulos: Nefeli. P.E. Laurent,(1829) A Classical Tour through Greece, Turkey and Italy, 2 vol. Massie, A. (1988), Byron’s Travels. London Moore, Th. Esq. (1832) The Works of Lord Byron, Vol. VII

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Murray, J. (1836) Travellers on the Continent, while the Murray, J. (1843) Handbook on France) Murray, J. (1854) Handbook for Travellers in In-between, Murray, J. (1847) Travel Talk, Murray, J. (1871) Handbook for Travellers in Constantinople T. Nugent (1749) The Grand Tour containing an exact description of most of the Cities, 4 vols. Mariana Starke (1802) Travels in Italy. Murray, J. (1820) Travels on the Continent. Trant, Captain Abercrombie (1830) Narrative of a Journey through Greece, London Urry, J. (1990) The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies: Sage Wordsworth, C. (1839) Greece, pictorial, descriptive and historical: William S. Orr

ENDNOTES

1. The exception of course being the enablement inherent in the host/guest relationship (see Smith, 1977; more recently, Sherlock, 2001) and the development of the tourist infrastructure (see Seaton, 1994; more recently, Eisinger, 2000, 2003) 2. Many works deal with the construction of the tourist identity. Most of them stress the antithesis of tourism and anti-tourism in travelling, which is still obvious today. For a satisfactory analysis, cf. Buzard, J. (1993), the Beaten Track: Clarendon Press. p. 80-154. 3. The word ‘tourist’ appeared first in English in late 18th century (Oxford English Dictionary). It was a synonym for ‘traveller’. Gradually ‘tourist’ was used with a negative connotation. According to OED, this occurred by the middle of the 19th century. Cf. Buzard 1993), Introduction, p. 1. 4. The list of travellers is very long and works go back to the early 17th century, Since the latter part of the century, there is a proliferation of travellers which will not cease until the end of the 19th century. 5. Progressive thinking most probably was a result of their travels, as is obvious from the case of Lord Byron’s travels to Greece. When he sailed, a young man, for the first time in 1809, he had little idea of the Greek struggle. His meeting with A. Londos in Acarnania, initiated him, in a way, to the Greek cause, while his adventures were a liberating experience. The poem which best illustrates this movement is ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’ which was written in Greece and contains useful notes of a ethnographic character too.cf. G.G. Byron, Lord, (1812). Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage: j. Murray. 6. Apart from the well known poetical works of Byron and his letters, Cf. also Ch. Wordsworth (1839) Greece, pictorial, descriptive and historical:

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William S. Orr; P.E. Laurent,(1829) A Classical Tour through Greece, Turkey and Italy, 2 vol. 7. One such body was The ‘Mission Archaeologique Francaise en Orient’ which in the 1670s and 1680s explored the islands. Between 1719 and 1730 scientists had also visited Morea and Attica, as part of the wider archaeological missions to the East, and during the Napoleonic wars and later, French missions also explored several other parts of Greece. Pictorial works, poetry and prose and topographical accounts were the result of such visits. 8. It should be taken into consideration, however, that very often verses and whole poems were included in letters. In Lord Byron’s works there are numerous instances of such mingling of poetry and correspondence. Keeping a diary was a particularly common, tradition and long-dated habit of explorers and/or scientists. Cf. for instance, Trant, Captain Abercrombie (1830) Narrative of a Journey through Greece, London . 9. Early guidebooks for Europe go back to the 18th century, e.g. T. Nugent (1749) The Grand Tour containing an exact description of most of the Cities, 4 vols.; or Fleming, J. (1722), the Gentleman’s Pocket Companion for Travelling into Foreign Parts; or Mariana Starke’s (1802) Travels in Italy. 10. Although renowned contemporary authors such as Karkavitsas or Kazantzakis, or Karagatsis wrote extensively about travel, they have never been analyzed against the reality of tourism. Any interest shown in this side of literature is very recent and remains scanty. For a recent attempt to deal with writings on tourism by Greek authors cf. Dritsas, M.(1999) Ο Μ. Καραγάτσης και ο Ελληνικός Τουρισµός, (Karagatsis and Greek Tourism): Επιλογή 6/99, 56-57. Hardly any attention was shown by specialists. Cf. A. Karkavitsas, (1998), Ταξιδιωτικά (Essays on Travel) introduction-Anthology by Elias Ch. Papademetrakopoulos: Nefeli p.23-31 11. With regard to Greek novelists with an international appeal, perhaps the most famous has been Nicos Kazantzakis who staged most of his novels in his home area, Crete and who made Crete known abroad. The Film Zorba the Greek, with an international cast, is perhaps the best illustration of such a process. 12. T. Nugent, (1749); Fleming (1722); Mariana Starke (1802) etc. The latter also broadened her scope with another book Travels on the Continent, first published in 1820; by 1829 it had made seven editions. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the conclusion of Peace, there was a boom in travel literature by English publishers, although not conforming to the handbook type. 13. For details J. Buzard, (1993), p.65-70. 14. Murray, J. (1840) Handbook for Travellers in Greece: J. Murray . The Murrary Handbook for Travellers on the Continent was published earlier in 1836, while the Handbook on France came after the one on Greece (1843) and the Handbook for Travellers in Turkey followed only in 1854. In- between, Travel Talk was published in 1847. Apart from Athens, the other big city of the East, Constantinople had to wait until 1871, before it received

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attention in the special publication Handbook for Travellers in Constantinople. 15. J. Buzard,(1993), p.118. 16. E.g. G.G. Byron, The Lament of Tasso, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, The Prisoner of Chillon. A. Massie, Byron’s Travels, London (1988), p. 47. A. Massie (1988), p. 55 17. Buzard (1993) p. 117. 18. Buzard (1993)p.119 19. Murray (1840), p.iv. 20. The Handbook opened with verses from Urquhart’s Spirit of the East introducing the traveller to the mystical oriental world. 21. J. Urry (1990) The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and Travel in Contemporary Societies: Sage. Urry suggests that the ‘tourist gaze was constructed by institutions such as Thomas Cook, Murray, Baedeker etc. 22. Murray (1840), Introduction, p. I-XVII 23. Interestingly, Byron and Hobhouse travelling in 1810 in Greece, carried 4 leather trunks and 3 smaller ones, a canteen which was considered ‘indispensable’ , 3 beds with bedding and 2 light wooden bedsteads and large sacks. 24. Murray (1840), Part I, p. 2. The author refers to Blewitt. 25. Moore, Th. Esq. (1832) The Works of Lord Byron, Vol. VII, p. 305. This reference to Lord Byron’s servants by John Murray is interesting. It helps clarify the meaning of ‘servant’ for travelling. From other sources it is known that Byron’s physician Fletcher also accompanied him to Missolonghi.. Besides, there is an uncanny likeness of Murray, the companion, with Murray the publisher who, in his handbooks, confirms that he had travelled to most parts he included in the books. It would, therefore, be legitimate to define ‘servant’ in the sense of companion and friend, rather than as a person of inferior class receiving orders to do menial jobs. Byron had a boy-servant, Robert Rushton, and was accompanied by his life-long friend John Cam Hobhouse. Hobhouse was, himself an assiduous writer of travel books and sketches. 26. E.g. Route from Zante to Patras. Describing the route from Patras to Athens - by Delphi and Corinth, mention is made of the ‘remarkable’ siege of Missolonghi and about the death of Byron. Byron dominated the introduction about Athens and his ‘Maid of Athens ere we part’ is included. 27. J.Murray (1840), Part II, p.43. The approach to Athens from Megara by Eleusis, culminates with Byron’s poem ‘Athens’ to highlight the possible disappointment of a traveller by harsh Greek reality. ...Goddess of Wisdom! Here thy temple was,/And is, despite of war and asting fire,/And years, that bade thy worship to expire:/ But worse than steel, and flame, and ages slow,/ Is the dread sceptre and dominion dire/ Of men who never felt the sacred glow/ That thoughts of thee and thine on polish’d/ breasts bestow.....Is that a temple where a God may dwell?/ Why ev’n the worm at last disdains her shatter’d cell!.....Dull is the eye that will not weep to see/ Thy walls defaced,

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thy mouldering shrines removed/ By British hands, which it had best behoved/ To guard those relics ne’er to be restored./ Curst be the hour when from their isle they roved,/ And once again they hapless bosom gored, and snatch’d thy shrinking Gods to northern/ climes abhorr’d! 28. Wordsworth (1839) Greece. Pictorial, Descriptive and Historical, London. 29. W. Holland (1812), Travels in the Ionian Isles, Thessaly, Macedonia etc., London 30. Dodwell, E. (1819), Classical and Topographical Tour, 2 vols. London; Murray (1840), Part II, p. 29 31. For instance, a Club was recommended ‘established as the rendez-vous of the military, naval and civil officers, and an excellent garrison library, where the traveller may obtain the best works of travels, history and science respecting the Septinsular Republic’. 32. Sir F. Adam was one of the heroes of the battle of Waterloo and Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands between 1824-1831. 33. Murray (1840), Part I, p.5. 34. Starting in 1835 by the French government between Marseilles and Athens, a steam vessel touched at several intervening stations. There was also a Falmouth packet to Patras (mail and passenger) and Corfu, an Austrian steam packet and an English steam packet. 35. From Nauplia to Mycenae and Argos; from Nauplia to Tripolizza; to Athens extending for 8-10 miles in three directions. 36. Murray (1840), Part II, p.22 37. Murray (1840), Part II, p. 23 38. This structure was invented by Mr. Levinge, who not only had resided for a long time in the region but on whose observations many of the texts of the Handbook were based. It could be found in a shop in Athens. 39. All the information is drawn from the Handbook for Travellers, 1840 edition. 40. For instance, at the beginning of the Introduction of the 4th edition an extract from the Quarterly Review was included, to provide identification of the Handbook with the average reader. It described a journey in Greece as ‘full of interest for a traveller of every character except indeed for a mere idler or man of pleasure’. 41. Handbook for Travellers to Greece, London, 4th edition, 1872 (p.2). 42. Allusion was made to possibilities of successful settling in Greece in the hotel and trade business, but also in other areas, e.g. banking, etc. 43. Murray must have been influenced by the earlier philhellenic tradition, especially by Byron’s passion about Greece. As a true 19th century Englishman, however, he also saw only good intentions and a civilizing role in British policy, which had since 1830 been on occasion quite brutal towards Greece. 44. Ibid. p.43. 45. especially in Childe Harold’s verses but also through Byron’s notes on Albanians and their danses which were copied by Murray. 46. ibid. p.63

53 Margarita Dritsas

47. K. Baedeker (1889), Greece, Handbook for Travellers, Leipsig, London. Introduction, p.xi. 48. Unlike the Murray publications, Baedeker bibliography followed a chronology starting in 1437 and included works about the antiquities, about topography, history, ethnography, as well as other travel books, and works on modern Greece. 49. Baedeker (1889) p.lii 50. ibid. p. 51. No advertisement was included for Athens for a long time by Murray. In 1872, nevertheless, Hotel des Etrangers in Athens was listed as well as two hotels in Corfu

SUBMITTED: AUGUST 2005 REVISION SUBMITTED: DECEMBER 2006 ACCEPTED: FEBRUARY 2006 REFEREED ANONYMOUSLY

Margarita Dritsas ([email protected]) is Professor of Economic and Social History at the Hellenic Open University, School of Humanities, 20-22 Pontou St., 11528 Athens, Greece.